Intelligent personal carrier

ABSTRACT

The intelligent personal carrier (IPC) provides a carrier for personal items such as money, credit cards, drivers licenses and other articles and allows electronic devices such as the mobile phone, MP3 player, PDA, camera, health monitors and other devices to be attached to the exterior, leaving them accessible for operation. The IPC may be attached to a strap to attach to the user, such as a lanyard. The strap may have integrated electronics allowing for the control and operation of the attached electronic device. The IPC stores, protects, communicates, detects and tracks personal information. The type of information and personal items to be managed may be in both hard form, such as credit cards, and identification cards, and digitally, in the form of data files.

This application claims benefit of provisional application 60/833,485filed Jul. 27, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The proliferation of personal electronic devices has increased personalenjoyment and the ease of communication with other people. Cell phonesallow persons to communicate with others regardless of location, as longas the cell phone receives an adequately strong signal. Other devices,such as MP3 players, are small, lightweight and able to hold largeamounts of data, such as thousands of songs. Other devices, such asPDAs, allow people to receive e-mail, log onto the Internet, and do ahost of other activities with a wireless connection adding to the freeflow of information. Organizing and carrying these devices often provesto be troublesome and it is desirable to have a system for organizingall the items a person must carry.

It is an object of the invention to provide a personal organizer forserving the functions of a wallet and provide organization forelectronic devices.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carrier for personalitems that contains a module allowing electronic financial transactions.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a lightweight,durable case for holding personal effects and carrying electronicdevices while still allowing their operation.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carrying case havinga strap made of textiles incorporating electronics.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art after reading the disclosure of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The intelligent personal carrier (IPC) provides a carrier for personalitems such as money, credit cards, driver's license and other articlesand allows electronic devices such as the mobile phone, MP3 player, PDA,camera, health monitors and other devices to be attached to theexterior, leaving them accessible for operation. The IPC may be attachedto a strap to attach to the user, such as a lanyard. The strap may haveintegrated electronics allowing for the control and operation of theattached electronic device. The IPC stores, protects, communicates,detects and tracks personal information. The type of information andpersonal items to be managed may be in both hard form, such as creditcards, and identification cards, and digitally, in the form of datafiles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a front view of the carrying case;

FIG. 2 is a back view of the carrying case;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the carrying case;

FIG. 4 is a front view of an attachment plate attachable to the carryingcase for holding an electronic device;

FIG. 5 is across sectional view of the carrying case with attachedelectronic device;

FIG. 5 a is a top view of the carrying case

FIG. 6 shows an exploded perspective view of the carrying case;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the carrying case in a first open position;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the carrying case in a second open position;

FIG. 9 is a front view of a body attachment belt;

FIG. 10 is a rear view of the body attachment belt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The carrying case 10, seen in FIGS. 1-3, has a substantially clam shellconstruction with a rigid front half 12 having a front panel 11connected to a back half 14 by a hinge 16. The top of the casing 27extends from a rear panel 15. A female connector is formed in the top,as will be explained later. By having the connector attached to the topwhich is formed as part of the back half, the connector maintainsstability while the case is opened and closed and the connector isattached to a mating connector. A rear sidewall 26 extends from the rearpanel 15 whereas a front sidewall 28 extends from the front panel 11. Agasket may be between the two halves to render the carrying casewaterproof.

The exterior of the carrying case has a connector for the attachment ofan electronic device, such as an MP3 player, a mobile phone, PDA,camera, health monitors and other devices. The attachment plate 30 foran electronic device, such as that seen in FIG. 4, has a matingconnector 32. The attachment plate 30 securely cradles the electronicdevice and has apertures 33, appropriate for the specific device, toallow access to the controls while the attachment plate is connected tothe device. Any conventional manner of connecting the attachment plateto the carrying case may be used, such as mating tracks as used inmobile phones. Other devices which may attach to the exterior of thecase include data chips, compass, altimeter, time piece, key holder,cardholder, coin holder, paper money holder and personal protectiondevice, such as pepper spray.

The interior is seen in the cross sectional view of FIG. 5. The interioris provided with a clip 24 to secure cards, such as credit cards and adriver's license, as well as paper money. Electronic components can alsobe incorporated into the interior of the case. The interior has a smallchamber 34 locked by a panel 36 which may house an electronic lock,various tracking devices, such as GPS, RFID or other similar devices.The electronic lock may be activated by a key pad 37, seen in FIG. 5 a,on the top of the carrying case 10 or may be remotely actuated. Memorydevices containing personal information or financial modules allowingdigital financial transactions may also be stored in the compartment.

When the case is worn about the neck, it will be advantageous to openthe case to an angle between 45 and 90 degrees, preferably 70 degrees.Such opening allows access to the interior of the case, but preventsitems within the case from falling out. The hinge mechanism may have astop causing the case to open and be stable at such an angle, as seen inFIG. 7. The resistance of the stop may be overcome to open the case to afull flat configuration, seen in FIG. 8.

The carrying case may include features such as speakers, antennas, awireless device such as Bluetooth and voice recognition in order toenhance communication, entertainment and hands free capability of thecase. As seen in FIG. 9, these components may be integrated into anattachment strap, such as a lanyard, belt or shoulder strap. It ispossible and known to incorporate electronics into textiles for themaking of clothing or other articles. Such textiles are sold under thename Interactive Wear™.

FIG. 9 depicts the front side of an attachment strap 40. A connector 42,such as a 12 pin Ipod connector, mates with a female connector on theelectronic device or with a connector 43 on the carrying case, seen inFIG. 5 a, when an electronic device is not attached. In this manner, thestrap may be attached to either an electronic device or the carryingcase alone or both when the two are attached to one another.

A wireless device, such as a bluetooth module 44, is integrated into thestrap above the connector 42. A reversible key pad 46 has buttonssuitable for operating an electronic device. A microphone 48 is placedon the strap so that is will be near the wearer's head when worn. Thestrap may have a quick release connector 50, as is required in manyworkplaces. In FIG. 10, the back side of the strap is seen, with thereversible key pad still accessible and headphone connectors 52 alsopositioned so as to be in a convenient position when the strap is worn.Pockets 54 may be incorporated into the strap to accommodate personalarticles and electronic devices.

The carrying case represents maximum functionality and ease of use in asmall, easy to use, aesthetically pleasing configuration for protectingboth personal information and personal property. While the invention hasbeen described with reference to a preferred embodiment, variation andmodification would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope of the invention. The inventionencompasses such variations and modifications.

1. A carrier comprising a front section having a front panel, a bottomand two sides, a back section having a back panel, a top, a bottom andtwo sides, a hinge connected to the bottom of the front section and thebottom of the back section allowing the sections to move relative to oneanother, an electronic device connector on the back section.
 2. Thecarrier of claim 1, further comprising a clip in the interior forsecuring items.
 3. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the hinge has a firststop when opened to an angle between 45 and 70 degrees.
 4. The carrierof claim 3, wherein the hinge has a second stop when opened one hundredeighty degrees.
 5. The carrier of claim 1, further comprising a top wallextending from said back panel, a first connector in said top wall. 6.The carrier of claim 5, further comprising an electronic deviceconnected to said back section, the electronic device having a secondconnector.
 7. The carrier of claim 6, further comprising a carryingstrap, a third connector attached to the carrying strap, he thirdconnector mating with either the first connector or second connector. 8.The carrier of claim 7, further comprising controls for the electronicdevice integrated into the carrying strap.